Funds are requested for a Zeiss 510 Meta confocal microscope paired with a Zeiss Axiovert 200 inverted microscope. This instrument will be equipped with four lasers (1 UV, 1 Ar, 2 HeNe), three channels for reflected light and three photomultipliers, it will be equipped with the Zeiss Meta system allowing emission fingerprinting and the capability to clearly separate complex fluorescence signals even with overlapping emission spectra. This microscope will provide maximum flexibility to meet a wide diversity of research projects. It will be incorporated into a multi-user microscopy facility already existing within the Dental School and will be administered in a similar manner as other microscopes in the Dental School core microscopy facility. Currently no confocal microscope is readily available to the Dental School faculty. The confocal microscope requested in this application is necessary to meet the current and future research needs of the Dental faculty. It will be housed in 126 square feet of space on the fourth floor of the Dental School. A review of funded research projects already in progress (20 funded by NIH) or planned for the confocal microscope is included. The University of Maryland Dental School is currently ranked sixth out of all dental schools in NIH funding and continues to substantially increase its extramural funding. The confocal microscope requested in this application will enhance the research objectives of currently funded NIH research grants in the Dental School and will provide a state of the art instrument for the continued excellence and expansion of biomedical research within the University of Maryland Dental School and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.